The Winds of Change Saga: Lost and Found
by Shinzui Naru
Summary: (Book 3 in the saga.) Someone's after the lives of the Gundam pilots and their friends... read and review, pleeeease!!


# Lost and Found

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. But I own the following characters: Rayne Cetauri, Max Kine, and Shira Cetauri. Please don't use them without my permission.

Setting: 7 years after _Cycles of Battle. But the prologue is set right after __Cycles._

Notes: The whole story is kind of a mystery, until the end…you might be shocked by what happens! Oh, and Wufei lovers be warned, you might not like the ending… Anyways, read and review, please!!

## Prologue

_A long corridor lay in front of the shadowed person. But the person could finally see the end of it, far in the distance. The slowly started running towards the exit and…_

In a dark room of the hospital, someone finally woke up. She opened her eyes and looked around.

"I see you're awake." She turned her head slightly and saw someone sitting in a chair in the corner. 

"I'm...alive?" she wondered.

"Yes, and it's quite surprising. I thought you would never wake up."

"How long have I been asleep?"

"You were in a coma for ten months," the person told her.

"_Ten months_?!" the girl repeated. She saw the person nod. She tried to sit up, but felt sharp pains run through her body.

"Don't try to move. You've sustained very severe injuries and they haven't healed yet."

_"Thanks for telling me before I tried to get up,"_ she thought sarcastically as she relaxed and sighed. "Why do you care?" she then asked.

"I'm a doctor. It's my job to take care of people like you."

"People like me?"

"Injured people."

"Oh."

"You should get some sleep," the doctor suggested. The girl nodded, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.

"She's extraordinary," the doctor said to himself as the girl drifted into sleep. "I can't believe she's still alive after what she went through." He looked again at her peaceful face and left the room.

## Chapter 1: A Surprise Party

Shira walked to where Trowa was standing and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. She then proceeded to put her arms around his neck and say, "Hi!"

"Oh…hi Shira. What's up?" he asked.

"Guess what Friday is!" she told him cheerfully. Trowa thought carefully about this, knowing that if it was something important and he forgot it…a small shudder escaped him. After thoroughly reviewing all important holidays and major events, Trowa couldn't think of the answer to Shira's question.

"I give up…what is it?"

"My birthday!"

"Oh, does that mean I have to go out and get you a present?" Trowa smiled. 

"Well…yes, it does," Shira told him with a small wink.

"Friday, right?"

"Yep."

"Okay."

~*~

Friday came quickly for Shira. _"I'm twenty-three today,"_ she thought as she waited in her apartment for Trowa. She eagerly looked at her watch. 

"He's five seconds late already," she muttered. "Five seconds…that doesn't matter _too_ much. I wonder why he wants to take me to Duo's apartment? Is it some kind of surprise…?" She stopped when she looked out the window and saw Trowa's car pull up in front of her apartment building. He soon knocked on her door.

"Hi," he said when opened the door.

"Hi!" she replied.

"Ready to go?" Shira nodded. "Okay then, let's go." Shira grabbed her light jacket –it was only fall, not late enough for a heavy coat- and they walked out the door.

Trowa opened the passenger door of his car for her and she lightly stepped in. Then he opened his door and got in.

"Hey Trowa? Why are we going to Duo's apartment, of all places?"

"You'll see when we get there." She shrugged and decided not to pry any further…once Trowa decided he wouldn't tell something, he'd take the secret to the grave. Shira smiled and thought, _"That's my Trowa."_

She looked out the window after a few minutes and shifted her position in her seat. She noticed an uncomfortable quiet and turned on the radio. Immediately she heard the news, wrinkled her nose a little, and turned the dial until she heard music playing.

"Y'know," she said, "You should consider playing music in this car."

"I did," Trowa told her with a small smile. "And I decided against it."

"Oh, you're no fun!" she joked.

"That's me." Shira then rolled down the window and let the wind blow her hair around her face. It wasn't much of a problem for her; she had kept it short for as long as she could remember. 

They passed over a lake and Shira looked out at it, smiling. It was beautiful this time of year, early fall, before the leaves turned color and died. Suddenly, she felt the car jolt and she gasped as it tilted drastically to one side. Trowa cursed under his breath and gripped the steering wheel.

"What the hell?" Shira asked. Trowa uttered another incoherent curse as the car went out of control. Shira started to scream and Trowa growled, grappling with the steering wheel. He saw someone up ahead, walking along the sidewalk. He gritted his teeth and realized it was Heero Yuy, probably going to the same place as him and Shira. 

"Shit!" he muttered. "Shira, we have to get out of the car!" Shira nodded and opened the passenger door.

"Be careful," she whispered to Trowa, and then she rolled out of the car, landing in the springy grass on the side of the road. She lay on her back and let out a deep breath. She sat up in time to see Trowa jump out of the car. Then she saw Heero and jumped up…the out-of-control car was headed right for him.

"Heero!" she shouted. "Look out!" He looked up and jumped out of the way moments before it would have hit him. Instead, though, it kept going and hit a lamppost. 

Trowa got up and went to see that Shira and Heero were both all right.

"What the hell happened?" Heero asked.

"I don't know," Trowa said. "But that was a new car!" He went to check it out, examining the wreckage sadly. He saw that the front tire had practically fallen off.

"So…what _did_ happen?" Shira asked, walking closer to the wrecked car.

"The tire," Trowa said, pointing at the tire in question. "I don't know how it happened, but I don't think it was an accident."

"You mean someone tampered with the car? When?" Shira bent down and took a close look at the tire. 

"It's a crude job. Maybe when I went inside to pick you up."

"Whoever did that must have known what they were doing," Heero muttered, walking towards them.

"But at least we're all okay," Shira pointed out.

"Except for my car," Trowa added.

"Yeah, but the car's replaceable…you aren't." She put an arm around his shoulder and smiled. He laughed. "But jeez, what a _great_ birthday present," she added sarcastically. 

"So we're walking the rest of the way. It isn't too far…a few blocks, I guess," Trowa said. All three of them left, still on the way to Duo's apartment. There was a person hiding in the bushes…

"Damn," the person said. "I almost had all three of them right where I wanted them…no matter, there will be a next time."

~*~

"Shira, could you wait out here for a minute?" Trowa asked when they stood in front of Duo's apartment. "Me and Heero need to talk to Duo for a minute." Shira grinned a little.

"Sure," she said. "Why not?" Trowa and Heero went ahead and knocked on Duo's door. They were immediately let in by Duo, who barely opened the door enough for Shira to see inside. She sighed and leaned on a post opposite the door.

"And so the waiting begins," she muttered. After pulling a nail file out of her purse –which she had miraculously been able to hold onto- and filing her nails, she began to get bored. She walked around for a little while and then sighed, going back to Duo's door.

"Can I come in yet?" she asked impatiently. She received no reply. "Well, too bad. I'm coming in anyways." She flung the door open and started to say something, but she got cut off.

**_"SURPRISE!!"_** Shira jumped and let out a loud shriek as the lights came on and everyone jumped from a hiding place. Then she took a deep breath and laughed. Everyone was there: Trowa, Heero, Duo, Relena, Hilde, Quatre, Max…even Wufei had come.

"You guys…I already had _one_ near-death encounter, I don't need a heart attack!" She jumped again as she felt something on her ankle.

"Relax," Duo said. He leaned down and scooped up a little ball of fur. Shira heard a small 'meow' come from it.

"You have a cat?" she asked, slightly amused. It was a small gray-and-white tabby kitten. 

"Well…yeah," Duo said.

"I didn't think they allowed cats in apartment buildings!"

"Hey, what they don't know won't hurt 'em." Shira put out her hands and Duo let her hold the small cat.

"What's his name?"

"Tabby."

"Cute name." She laughed as the cat squirmed in her arms and reluctantly put it on the carpeted floor. "How'd you keep the place this clean? You were never a really…orderly person."

"Hilde's done most of it," Duo explained.

"That's right," Hilde said. "And don't you forget it." She grabbed his braid and gave it a small tug. Then Shira noticed something…

"Hey, you cut your hair!" It was true; Duo's braid was almost a foot shorter than it had been when she last saw him. But it still came a good length down his back. He grinned and shrugged.

"Hilde's work again. She convinced me to cut some of it off. Besides, it seemed to be Tabby's favorite toy." On those words, the small kitten tried to bat the end of his braid and he laughed.

"Well, what're we waiting for? Can we get this party stared or what?" Hilde said, clapping her hands together.

"Yeah!" everyone else agreed. Shira smiled to herself.

_"These guys are the best,"_ she thought proudly. _"And to think, I never would have met them if I hadn't been looking for my sister…I still can't believe she's really gone…"_ She sighed and joined her friends in the small dining room. There were only enough places for four of them, but eight could manage to squeeze in at the small table. Wufei just stood up and leaned against the wall.

There were seven neatly wrapped presents on the table. Shira opened them all and thanked the person who had given her the gift. But to her disappointment, there wasn't one from Trowa. He leaned closer to her and whispered in her ear.

"I'll have to give you your present a little later," he said. Shira suppressed a giggle and then thanked her friends again.

"Now for the cake!" Duo said. Quatre nodded and disappeared into the kitchen for a minute. Then he came back with a large rectangular cake. It was white cake, with white icing and balloon decorations. In the middle, in red letters, were the words, _"Happy birthday Shira!"_

"Quatre, did you make this?" Duo asked, awed.

"No, I picked it up at the bakery," Quatre told him.

"Oh. Well, it looks awesome anyways!"

"I think Duo's more interested in the cake than I am," Shira whispered to Hilde, who sat on the other side of her. Hilde grinned and again tugged on Duo's braid. Duo, who had picked up a large knife and was about to start cutting, looked at her.

"What?" he asked.

"Shira's supposed to cut the cake, remember? We agreed…"

"Yeah, yeah. Okay Shira, go for it." He slid the cake and knife over to her. Shira picked up the knife and began to cut into the cake slowly. As she lifted the first square piece away from the rest of it, Trowa handed her a small paper plate. She put the cake on the plate and held it up.

"Who wants the first piece?" she asked. Duo immediately raised his hand. Shira laughed and passed it to him. She cut the rest of the cake and it was passed around the table. They all ate, laughing and talking. 

_"I'm lucky to have such good friends,"_ Shira realized. 

After they had all finished, they went back into the living room and talked. Relena was playing with Tabby. Heero was watching, seemingly amused by her enjoyment of the small creature. Trowa, Quatre, and Max were talking. Shira was talking to Hilde, and Duo and Max were challenging each other at a video game.

"Hah!" Max cried suddenly, jumping up. "I beat you!"

"You don't have to rub it in," Duo muttered. "I demand a rematch!"

"What, isn't the God of Death able to handle a small defeat?" Hilde asked jokingly.

"Not when he's beat by Max," Duo told her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" They glared at each other for a minute, and then they both broke out laughing. 

It was a normal day for the Gundam pilots and their friends. They were all trying to settle down and work towards average lives, now that the war was finally over. 

~*~

After the party was over and everyone had left, Trowa walked Shira home.

"I'm gonna miss that car," Trowa muttered. Shira grinned and rolled her eyes a little.

"Well, you can get another one can't you?"

"Yeah, after I work for a few more years." 

"Oh…just watch, a few years won't be that long," Shira told him, looking up at the sky. It was getting dark in the early hours of evening. 

They soon arrived at Shira's apartment. Trowa walked her to her door and gave her a kiss.

"You want to come in?" Shira offered.

"Um…sure." Trowa shrugged and followed Shira inside.

(I'm gonna let you use your imagination for what happened next)

No matter how hard he tried, Trowa couldn't get to sleep. Whenever he closed his eyes, all he saw was the wreck from earlier that day, only with a less-than-happy ending. Things could have turned out so much differently if either him or Shira had waited a second too long…

He sighed, hearing Shira's rhythmic breathing beside him. _"Well,"_ he thought, _"At least it's over…and we're both still alive."_ He couldn't help but wonder if it had really been an accident, or if it had happened on purpose. 

Trowa looked over at the clock. It was almost midnight. He looked at Shira and whispered, "Happy birthday." Then he closed his eyes and finally fell asleep.

## Chapter 2: Someone's Watching

Relena stared at the oven and sighed. She wasn't usually an impatient person, but what if Heero and Duo arrived before she was finished cooking?

_"At least Hilde's here to help me,"_ she thought. _"Speaking of Hilde, where is she? I thought she was going to make the salad?"_ She sighed and looked at the mess all over the counter. It had been mostly her own fault. 

"Cooking is definitely _not_ as easy as it looks," she muttered as she began to clean up a little. Hilde chose that moment to walk back into the room.

"How's it coming?" she asked. 

"I believe we can survive. Now, that's what you're supposed to be doing, remember?" Relena pointed to the salad fixings by the sink. 

"Oh yeah," Hilde muttered as she walked towards them and started making the salad. "Hey, this isn't so hard." She dumped everything into a bowl.

"You _did_ wash the lettuce before you put it in, right?" Relena asked. Even _she_ knew to do something as simple as that. Hilde didn't reply for a minute, she just stopped what she was doing and blinked.

"Um, I thought _you_ washed it," she replied after a minute. Relena turned around from what she was doing and gave Hilde a dubious look. Hilde sighed, separated the lettuce from the rest of the salad, and ran some tap water over it.

"They should be here soon," Relena pointed out. "Thanks for helping, Hilde. I never would have survived this if I was cooking everything by myself."

"Hey, no prob. That's what friends are for, right?" They laughed and continued cooking.

~*~

Everything was almost ready, the last of the things cooking was in the oven and the dining room table was already set. Hilde was on the second floor balcony of Relena's spacious house, leaning on the railing to look at the view of most of the city. Relena was in her room brushing her hair. 

Suddenly, she heard a loud beeping noise and she quickly realized that it was the smoke alarm. Her first thought was that dinner was burning. She hastily ran from her room and down the stairs. Upon reaching the kitchen she realized that nothing was wrong, and the beeping of the alarm ceased.

"What's going on?" Hilde asked, walking into the kitchen. Relena was checking the smoke alarm to make sure that the batteries weren't old.

"I don't know why, but the smoke alarm went off," Relena explained.

"Huh. How strange. Well, if nothing's wrong then I guess I'll go back upstairs."

"Sure." Hilde left the room and Relena got a chance to look at her clothes. "Ugh, I'm a mess. I should change…" she went upstairs to her room and changed her clothes.

The smoke alarm started beeping again.

"Damn, what's wrong with it?" Relena wondered. She left her room and went down the stairs to the second floor. Then she started to smell something burning. "This time it probably _is_ the oven." She walked through a hallway and arrived at the top of the stairs with a small gasp. 

"What?" Hilde was right behind her. "What the hell?" The stairs were on fire.

"Hilde, call the fire department."

~*~

Duo was on his way to Relena's house when he met up with Heero.

"Hey Heero! Relena invited you too?"

"Yeah," Heero replied quietly. Although he said nothing, something felt wrong…he knew that something would happen, and soon. Duo, however, didn't seem to notice anything.

It came to Heero's attention that a thin trail of smoke was rising in the distance. He quickened his pace nervously, and Duo started jogging to keep up with him.

"What's wrong, Heero?" the American former pilot asked. Heero said nothing, but he started running faster. Duo was far behind him now, but he finally understood why Heero was getting worried.

Flames leapt from the windows of the first floor of Relena's house.

"Oh crap!" Duo whispered as he was Hilde on the second-story balcony. She leaned over the low railing, looking down to see if there was a fire escape anywhere near her. To her dismay, there wasn't.

"Duo!" she yelled, seeing him running towards the house. 

_"I'm coming, Hilde!"_ he thought. He started climbing up a ladder beside the house to see if he could reach her when something exploded inside the house, making it shudder violently. Hilde, who was leaning dangerously far out from the balcony, lost her balance and began to fall.

"Shit!" Duo cursed. He hastily descended from the ladder and was about to jump down when his foot got caught and he fell face-first onto the pavement. He cursed again under his breath and stood up. His chin was stinging, and he touched it to see blood on his fingers. 

To make matters worse, he hadn't been in time to catch Hilde. She was sprawled on the ground on her back, unconscious or possibly dead. A thin line of blood trickled down from her forehead and more was pooling at the back of her head.

Meanwhile, Heero was searching for Relena outside. At the same time he was trying to find a safe way in, but things weren't looking good. The whole downstairs was on fire, and none of the doors were accessible.

He heard Duo shouting his name and when he found his friend the violet-eyed pilot was kneeling beside Hilde's still body.

"We've gotta get to a phone and call an ambulance," Duo said. Then he heard the sound of a siren, one was already pulling into Relena's driveway. A fire truck was right behind it. "What the…how'd they get here so fast? We didn't even call them yet!"

The paramedics put Hilde in the ambulance and Duo was about to follow when Heero grabbed his arm.

"What the hell are you doing?" Duo demanded.

"I don't think this was an accident. It's possible that whoever's responsible for this got trapped inside."

"You're right." They searched the building for a way in, and finally found a door in the back of the house that was relatively safe to enter.

As Heero opened the door, a rush of hot air hit him in the face. He held his breath for a minute and then went inside, with Duo right behind him.

_"Relena's still in here,"_ he thought. Gritting his teeth, he called her name. But he didn't get an answer. 

"Heero, give it up," Duo said after Heero yelled for the fifth time. "She probably can't hear you, so you'd might as well save your breath."

_"Damn, he's right,"_ he said to himself. Both he and Duo heard a loud _crack_ noise, and Heero looked at the ceiling. "The ceiling won't last much longer!" he shouted to Duo, who nodded in agreement.

"We need to find Relena and get outta here!" Suddenly a large beam fell from the ceiling. It narrowly missed Heero, but fell on top of Duo. Heero muttered a very obscene word and was able to slowly push the beam off of his friend. Then, being very careful, he dragged Duo out of the building.

_"I have to find Relena,"_ he reminded himself. Then he went back into the building.

The fire was just getting worse, and Heero knew that if Relena was still alive, she wouldn't be for much longer. He had checked the whole downstairs and he still hadn't found her. 

As he carefully made his way through the house, something caught his eye. It was a hand…thankfully connected to an arm, which was connected to the body of Relena Peacecraft, who was unconscious on the floor. Heero wordlessly picked her up, put her over his shoulder, and left the house.

Paramedics were putting Duo into a second ambulance, and when Heero put Relena down in the soft grass, she was put inside as well. 

Someone hid behind the wall of a neighboring house and whispered,

"I was sure that would get them that time…"

Heero stood in the front yard and watched as the ambulance sped away to the hospital.

And then the rain began to fall.

## Chapter 3: Mysteries Unsolved

The phone rang, startling Quatre out of a book. He picked it up and said, "Hello?"

"Quatre?" It was Heero's voice.

"Oh, Heero! I thought you were at Relena's house!"

"I was." The tone of Heero's voice made him uneasy.

"Heero, what's wrong? What happened?"

"So you haven't heard yet? Relena's house caught fire. She and Hilde are in the hospital, so is Duo."

"What happened to Duo?" 

"He went in to help me find Relena and a piece of the ceiling fell on him."

"That's terrible!"

"The reason I called you is, I don't think these things were an accident," Heero explained.

"You…don't?"

"No. First Trowa and Shira, now the three of them."

"So you think someone wants to get rid of us?"

"Yeah."

"I'll get to the hospital right away so we can discuss this."

"Sure." Heero hung up, and Quatre did the same.

~*~

Heero was waiting for him when Quatre got to the hospital. He led the young blond pilot to the room where their friends were.

"The doctor told me that they weren't really hurt…none of them. Hilde had a concussion and Duo was bruised up, but that was it," Heero explained.

"I'm surprised. You told me that Hilde fell from the second floor balcony…how'd she manage not to get hurt?"

"I don't know." They heard a groan from Duo as the American pilot opened his eyes. "You're awake," Heero said.

"Yeah, and everything hurts."

"That's surprising. You didn't break anything when that beam fell on you."

"I didn't?"

"No."

"Weird."

"That's what I said," Quatre interjected.

"I wonder how I managed to do that…" Duo trailed off.

"None of you got seriously hurt. The doctors just want to keep you here for a few days to run some tests and stuff," Heero told him.

"Duo?" Quatre asked.

"What?"

"How _did_ you manage not to get hurt?"

"I don't know…what about Hilde and Relena?"

"Neither of them is seriously hurt like they should be. You all got really lucky," Heero explained. Quatre looked at his watch.

"Wow, I didn't even notice how late it is," he muttered. "I need to get going…I'll come by later when I get a chance." He started to leave.

"Bye Q-man!" Duo said cheerfully. Heero silently watched him leave.

~*~

Quatre sat at one of the empty tables in the outdoor café. Not many people were there besides himself. And why was he here again? He had to clear his head, to fully digest the events of the past few days. First it was Shira and Trowa, two of his very best friends. One of the tires on Trowa's car somehow managed to fall off. And the out-of-control car almost collided with Heero.

Then he had gotten a phone call about Duo, Relena, and Hilde. Relena's house caught fire and they were the only victims. Quatre was beginning to believe that the events weren't a coincidence.

Who was behind all of this? 

Quatre's thoughts were interrupted when a plate of food was placed in front of him. He nodded, staring down at the table, and the waitress left. 

He toyed with his food for a few minutes, pushing it around on his plate with a fork. He felt a slight pressure on his leg and looked down…it was a stray dog, and it looked hungry. Quatre smiled kindly and gave the dog some of his food.

The dog lay down and happily chewed the treat. Quatre continued to ponder over the near-death encounters of his friends. If someone _was_ trying to kill them all, who would be next? It could possibly be him…he took a deep breath and sighed. 

He scooped some of his dinner onto his fork and then looked beside him to see if the dog was still there. Not surprisingly, it was. It looked as if it was sleeping, but Quatre took a closer look and saw no movement in the dog's chest. It wasn't breathing. He knelt and checked for any sign of life…and there was none.

_"It could have been the food,"_ Quatre told himself. _"Poison is an easy way to kill a person." _He hastily put the money for the food on the table and left.

~*~

Heero opened his eyes…how had he fallen asleep? _When_ had he fallen asleep? He groggily looked around…the others were still asleep. The look on Duo's face told Heero that the braided youth was having a particularly nice dream…Heero sighed.

By his guess it was around midnight…maybe later. He stood up and went for the door…he needed some fresh air. Something on the floor caught his eye: it was a sealed envelope. He bent down and picked it up. 

He ripped open the envelope and pulled out six small sheets of paper. One had his name on it. On the reverse side, there was a small note.

_'Maybe you should look both ways before crossing the street,'_ was all the note said. At the bottom of the paper, the word 'river' was written. He read the other notes, which were addressed to Trowa, Duo, Shira, Hilde, and Relena. 

_'Time to buy a new car,'_ was written for Trowa.

_'Now you know your smoke alarm works,'_ for Relena.

_'Better watch that last step,'_ for Hilde.

_'Maybe going into burning buildings isn't such a good idea. ^_^,' _was in Duo's note. 

_'You won't be so lucky next time,'_ were the words in Shira's note. 

All had been typed and then cut apart with scissors. And they all had either words or letters written at the bottom. 

Heero knew that someone was after them. Now all he had to do was find a common bond that linked them to the attempted killer and second-guess the next victim…it would be hard since they didn't know yet who the person actually was.

Then he noticed something about the notes given to him. He arranged them in the order that the people they belonged to had been attacked in, and they spelled out, '305 North Wind Song Rd. Be there.'

A street name. Obviously the person behind all this wanted to meet them…probably to finish them off.

Heero put the papers back in the envelope. As soon as the others woke up, he'd tell them. 

~*~

"What the hell is going on, Yuy?" Wufei demanded angrily. Why was he angry? He had been pulled out of his sleep at 3 A. M. and dragged along to this run-down weapon factory, that was why! And for what? To go and meet an attempted murderer.

Needless to say, it would be foolish to be on his bad side that day. But still, Duo insisted on teasing him.

"What, you're not up for a little challenge, Wu-Man?" the American pilot joked. 

"For the last time, Maxwell, DON'T CALL ME WU-MAN!!!" Wufei shouted, grabbing the collar of Duo's shirt and lifting him a few inches off the ground. Duo only whimpered pitifully in reply.

"After seven years…you'd think they would have stopped fighting a long time ago," Trowa said to Shira. She nodded in agreement.

"L-let's just get this over with," said a shaken Duo as he tried to fix his short's stretched collar.

They were at the address that they had gotten. Duo, Hilde, and Relena had to sneak out of the hospital, and Relena had protested the whole way about Heero taking a gun with him, but they managed to arrive quietly, hoping to ambush their attacker. But if Duo and Wufei kept fighting, their plan would fail.

"This whole idea depends on timing, and on everyone's ability to be as quiet as possible," Heero said. "So, if you don't think you can manage to sneak around in here, then stay outside." 

Shira was holding on tightly to Trowa's arm. She looked around, but someone was missing…

"Is Max gonna show up?" Duo asked. 

_"Oh, yeah! Max isn't here!"_ Shira thought. 

"He'll turn up soon," Heero said. "Let's get on with this."

The whole group moved forward, but Wufei lagged behind a little. He couldn't help feeling that something was about to happen…something bad.

A shot rang out in the darkness. The Gundam pilots were on the ground instantly, Relena, Hilde, and Shira weren't far behind them. After five minutes, when they thought the danger was over, they stood up…

Relena screamed. For a moment, the others didn't know why. But then they noticed Wufei, lying still on the ground, and the blood that was pooling around his head.

Everyone was in shock for a few moments. 

"That bastard," Duo muttered after a long silence. "That fucking bastard! I'll rip him apart with my own hands! Damn him, where is he?! I swear, when I see this guy, he is DEAD!" He turned to the building and shouted, "Do you hear me?! You're dead!!" And he charged into the factory. The others were right behind him.

_"He is _so_ dead,"_ Duo thought. _"And he's about to find out why I'm called the God of Death!"_

~*~

The factory was silent…wind wasn't even blowing through the trees outside. The loudest thing heard was the footsteps of the pilots and their friends. It seemed almost deafening…

They walked through a hallway for a while. Shira was starting to think that no one was really there…

Until they came to a dead end. But there was a door to the right, and they hastily opened it and went in.

"Well, Gundam pilots, it's about time you got here."

## Chapter 4: Ghosts and Confrontation

"I was starting to think that I'd have to wait forever." The voice was distinctly feminine. An overhead light flickered on, and Heero scowled at the woman that was sitting in a chair in the center of the room.

_"Hey...! That 'he' is a 'she'!"_ Duo thought. Their attempted assailant was a woman.

"I remember you," Quatre said.

"Quatre Raberba Winner," the woman sneered. "I thought I got rid of you. Did you suddenly lose your appetite?"

"It's you," Heero muttered.

"Yes, Heero, darling. It's me."

"Meera Rahn…I thought I got rid of you."

"Please," Meera spat. "I'm a lot smarter than that."

"Then what happened? Who was it that I killed?" Heero demanded.

"It's amazing sometimes, how far people will go for some extra cash," was Meera's indirect reply.

"Woah, wait a minute!" Duo shouted. "You hired someone for Heero to kill so you could save your sorry ass?!" Meera grinned cryptically. "That's low…that's really low." Meera still didn't say anything. "You're just a cowardly bitch!" He shouted.

"You had such creative ways of trying to kill the rest of us," Hilde said. "Why'd you just shoot Wufei?" Meera shrugged.

"I ran out of other ideas." Duo growled and lunged at her. But, quick as lightning, she pulled out a gun and had it at his forehead in an instant.

"Go on. I dare you to come any closer," she challenged him.

"Why are you doing this, Miss Rahn? Why can't we work this out like human beings?" Relena, always the diplomat, asked desperately.

"This has nothing to do with being human!" Meera retorted angrily. "No one, and I mean _no one_ has escaped from me alive! And I'm gonna make sure I keep up the reputation!"

"Is that all?" Heero asked tiredly. "You just want to make sure you kill everyone you're supposed to?" Meera nodded slightly. 

"That is so weak," Duo muttered. "You tried to kill all of us, just because you want to keep up your reputation?! You're just a coward…hiding behind that damn gun."

"Maybe I _am_ a coward," Meera said. "But at least _I'm_ not about to get my head shot off." Duo's attention went to the gun and he stepped back a few paces. "Much better. Now I'm going to kill you all, one by one. I don't want you to think I'm partial to any of you, so I'm just going to close my eyes and pick. Or are there any volunteers?" She was met with silence. "I didn't think so. Well, here we go…" She covered her eyes with her left hand, and extended her right arm.

Suddenly, the sound of a gunshot echoed through the bare walls of the factory. Meera, stunned, collapsed onto her knees and muttered,

"Y-you…you won…" Her eyes closed for the last time and she fell to the floor. 

The gun that killed her clattered onto the ground as well, dropped from shaking hands. Everyone's attention went to the person standing in the doorway. Shira gasped.

"Can't be…" she whispered.

"Who…" Trowa trailed off.

"That's-" Duo began, but Shira cut him off.

"My…my…this is…" She took a deep breath and began again. "This is…my sister, Rayne."

Rayne was trembling all over. "I just…I…I can't believe I…" she whispered. Tears began to well up in her blue-violet eyes.

"You're alive," Shira said quietly. Then, louder, she said, "I can't believe you're alive!" She pulled her surprised twin into a hug and they stood like that, with the Gundam pilots and the others watching in surprise.

The sound of footsteps came from the hallway, and another person stood behind Rayne and Shira.

"What's going on?" the person asked. Rayne's eyes widened. She recognized the voice… _"It can't be…can it? Is it…is it really him?"_ Shira whispered in her ear,

"He probably wants to talk to you." She let go of Rayne, who turned around and stared at the newcomer.

He couldn't find the right words to say to her for a minute. Then finally, he managed to stutter a few words.

"Rayne," he said. Tears were in his eyes, threatening to flow down his cheeks like a river. Rayne knew that her cheeks were no longer dry and it surprised her, she hardly ever cried. "It's really you…isn't it?" She nodded, wiping the salty tears from her eyes.

"Yes…yes, it's me." Before she knew what she was doing, Rayne had jumped into his grasp and was wrapping her arms around him. He held her tightly.

"Rayne, I missed you…" he whispered.

"I missed you too, Max…so much…" She leaned back a little and looked at him, smiling. 

As they kissed, Shira tugged gently on Trowa's shirt.

"What is it?" Trowa asked. She motioned for him to move away from the others, and they did.

"Um…remember that birthday present you gave me…?" Trowa looked confused for a minute, but then they both blushed furiously and he nodded, flustered. 

"Why?" 

"Well…um…how do I put this…how do you feel about being a father?" 

Trowa made a loud _thump_ noise as he hit the floor.

~*~

"Hey, are you okay?" Trowa's eyes opened slowly, but his vision was blurred.

"He's waking up! Trowa!" He groaned. What Shira told him had been real…hadn't it?

"Trowa, are you okay?" came Shira's concerned voice.

"Uhh, yeah…I'm okay," he replied.

"Good, I wasn't about to let you get out of this so easily!"

"Get out of what?" Duo asked. The expressions on the others' faces mirrored the same question. Shira explained the situation and in reply received a hug from her sister.

"That's great, Shira! Wow, I never thought you'd be having a kid before me! I thought you hated them!"

"When did I ever say that…?" Shira wondered. 

"So I guess there might be a wedding?" Duo suggested, a vision of a three-layer wedding cake dancing through his mind. Hilde, knowing what he was thinking about, tugged on his braid. "OWWW! What was that for?!"

"Can't you think of anything besides food?" Hilde asked.

"…No!" Duo told her.

Shira laughed genuinely, and so did everyone else. Even Rayne, who had no clue about what was going on, joined them. _"It's over,"_ Shira thought, _"And our lives can finally be normal..."_

## Chapter 5: All I Ever Wanted

"Duo, I need your help," Trowa said. It was almost three days later. 

"What's up, Trowa?"

"I don't exactly know how I'm supposed to do this." He explained his problem to Duo.

"Ohhh. Well, first you need to buy her a ring."

"I know that, smartass," Trowa snapped. "But I need someone's help. Since Quatre went out of town, I figured I'd ask you."

"Cool. We'll need to go ring-shopping then," Duo said, more to himself than to Trowa. "Well, the sooner we get started, the better!" Duo jumped up, grabbed Trowa's hand, and dragged him out the door.

_"This should be very interesting,"_ Trowa thought to himself as they left.

~*~

"You think he'll propose?" Rayne asked excitedly.

"Maybe," Shira replied. "He's the kind of person that would."

"Well when he does, you have to tell us every little detail!" Hilde added. 

"I _will_, okay?" Shira laughed. 

"You'd better!" her sister snapped playfully. 

This was the life she always wanted. Almost everything about it made her happy, even the small nervous feeling in her stomach, the anxious feeling that Trowa might not propose to her. 

It didn't matter.

~*~

"This one's nice." Trowa pointed to a glass case in the jeweler's shop. Duo squinted at it, wrinkled his nose, and said,

"Nah, it's too…it looks kinda funny." He looked at the case for a little while and then asked, "Y'know, you could've asked Rayne to come with you. She is, after all, Shira's sister. Why didn't you?" Trowa just glared at him for a moment. Duo nodded in understanding. In the few days that Trowa had known Rayne, he had learned how horrible she was at keeping secrets. 

"It would be kind of nice to _surprise_ Shira with this, you know," he replied. 

"Well, what about Hilde or Relena?" Duo suggested. "I would think it'd be better to have a woman's opinion about the ring."

"I don't know them very well, and besides, they weren't around."

"Okay."

"Hey, what about that one?"

"It's nice, but…oh, this one's cool!"

"Duo, it costs 25 cents."

"So? There'd be plenty of cash left over for a bachelor party!"

"NO way, Duo. Don't even think about it. And don't suggest it to the others," Trowa said.

"Fine. Jeez, you're no fun."

"I like this one."

"Huh?"

"This ring, idiot. I like it."

"Hey, me too. I bet it would look great on Shira." A grin tugged at the corners of Duo's mouth. Trowa was trying to find an employee while Duo kept his eyes on the ring. 

"Excuse me!" Trowa said to someone that came out of the back room. The employee walked towards him.

"Yes?"

"Could you show this ring to me?" He pointed at his choice. The employee opened the case and handed the ring to Trowa. 

The diamond sparkled under the store's light, and so did the small garnets on each side of it. The ring was absolutely gorgeous, and Trowa was positive that Shira would love it.

"I'll take it! Now, how much?"

~*~

"What's up, Shira?" Rayne asked. It was the next day, and Shira just couldn't seem to sit still. 

"Trowa wants me to go to dinner with him tonight," Shira replied. 

"Ohmigod!! This is it!" Rayne exclaimed happily. "You gotta tell me _everything_ that happens!"

"Don't worry, I will. Now, if I could just find something to wear…"

"SHOPPING!!!" Rayne, Hilde, and Relena cried in unison.

"It's like they're all programmed to shop," Duo muttered. 

"Yeah, like some kind of evil shopping demon is controlling all of them," Quatre added.

"I hope you have fun dealing with this every day, Trowa." Duo grinned and looked at Trowa. His eyes had the faintest expression of fear in them. Then, he remembered the coming evening, and a knot tightened in his stomach.

_"It's just one adventure after another, isn't it, Trowa?"_

~*~

Trowa waited inside Shira's apartment while she got ready. She called to him numerous times, "I'm almost ready! Just a few more minutes!" And now the timer had almost reached an hour. Finally she stepped into the small living room, and Trowa could only gape.

Shira stood awkwardly in a knee length, low-cut blue dress. She looked beautiful…she wore hardly any makeup or jewelry, with only a pair of silver stud earrings and a bracelet around her right wrist. Trowa tried to say something…_anything_, but all that came out was a small squeak. He finally consented to standing and offering his arm to her. She took it gracefully and he led her out the door, and to a brand-new car. Shira giggled as he opened the door for her, and after she got in, shut it. He followed in the driver's seat. 

There was a piece of paper in the open glove compartment, and Shira picked it up and read it. She stopped herself from laughing when she saw that it was a rental contract. 

_"Trowa must've rented this car for our date tonight! He's so sweet..."_ she thought.

They ended up at a small Italian restaurant. It was almost empty, which wasn't very strange on a Sunday night. They enjoyed a wonderful meal, Trowa's included Manicotti and Shira's was shells, stuffed with Ricotta cheese and covered with a marinara sauce.

"Mmm," Shira said after she was done. "That was great!" Trowa agreed a few minutes later when he was done.

The waitress came and took away their plates, and Trowa told her to bring the check.

"Trowa, this was fun," Shira said. "Could you excuse me for a minute? I need to use the bathroom." She got up and left for the restrooms. And Trowa started getting nervous. The evening was coming to an end…he stood up and fumbled around in his pocked for a minute. Then, finding the small box that his ring was in, sat down. 

Shira returned moments later and noticed Trowa's edginess. "Something wrong?" she wondered. 

"N-no. It's nothing. Really…it's nothing."

"Ok. Okay then." They sat in silence for a few moments. 

"Shira," Trowa began. She looked at him.

"Yes?"

"Alright, I'm gonna try to do this as well as I can. It's not like I have much practice, so please bear with me." He put the box on the table in front of Shira. She took the box and opened it, surprise lighting up her face. "Shira, will you marry me?" 

She could hardly speak. When she tried, nothing came out. She finally nodded and smiled at Trowa. Then, as she finally found her voice she added, "Y-yes…of course!" She leaned over the small table and planted a kiss on Trowa's lips. She put the ring in Trowa's hand and he slipped it on her finger.

_"This is it,"_ she thought. _"This is all I ever wanted…and more."_

**The End!**

A/N: Tacky ending, I know. But it's finally done! As I said, big apology to Wufei fans. Jeez, this story was a bitch to write. And I didn't exactly have a lot of free time, so I'm sorry about the long wait. School just started, and I've been getting a lot more homework. *Sigh* But I guess that's just high school for ya. Anyways, I'd appreciate any comments, reviews, or e-mails at [Starseeker__1@hotmail.com][1]! 

   [1]: mailto:Starseeker__1@hotmail.com



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